English Trifle with Summer Fruit

Believe it or not, I didn’t start making trifle until the early 2000s. I started baking in my teens -around the same time I met my British-by-blood husband (then boyfriend). You would think these two things had made me an expert trifle maker for the last two-plus-decades. Strangely, it just didn’t occur to me to include this traditionally British dessert in my repertoire. I didn’t come across the necessity to make trifle at work until 2001, when the family for whom I worked as a private chef started requesting it. This family wasn’t even remotely British, and they were doing a better job getting trifle into their lives than I was. I worked for this family until 2003, then mysteriously stopped making trifle again…until about a year ago. Why did I go so long without regular contact with this brilliant combination of sponge cake, fruit, custard sauce, and whipped cream? How could I have let my husband and daughter down for so many years? How did I not choose this as my go-to dessert for summer get-togethers? I have no answer for you. All I can do is make up for lost time and make it right with my family and friends. This post is my rectification.

This summer, I was charged with planning a surprise fiftieth birthday party for a friend. I was in constant clandestine communication (how’s that for some mean alliteration?) with her husband, getting info on her favorite foods.This was a potluck, so I didn’t have to make all the food (Although, I did make a lot of stuff. I believe I got a little carried away. Shocking, right?). Her husband told me one of her favorite desserts is trifle.

Before I knew anything else, I knew I was going to meet again with this sweet treat. We were expecting upwards of 30 people, so it had to be big. This was a milestone celebration, so it had to be spectacular. I was the one making it, so it had to be all from-scratch, and I had to pull out all the stops. I didn’t have a recipe for the trifle itself, but a recipe isn’t really needed as long as you have a great cake recipe and a phenomenal creme anglaise recipe, and you know how to make a mean chantilly cream. Don’t know how to do these things? Never fear…help is here!

Heating custard base for creme anglaise

Straining custard base through sieve

Adding vanilla to base

(Note: a true trifle calls for sponge cake – genoise – but I just made my trusty vanilla bean cake recipe and all was well. It’s up to you how authentic you want to be. Just to cover all bases, I’ll post my sponge recipe soon…promise!)

Adding sugar to butter

Creaming butter and sugar

Completed cake batter

Cakes ready for oven

Cakes are baked!

My trifle “recipe” is sort of a Frankenstein’s monster combo of all of the above recipes with instructions on how to layer everything with fruit, etc. Read on and enjoy!

You'll need quite a large trifle dish (like the one pictured) - or maybe two medium-sized dishes.
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Servings

servings

Ingredients

For cake

1 1/2cupsself-rising flour

1 1/4cupsall -purpose flour

1/2tspkosher salt

1cupunsalted butter, softened

2cupssugar

4largeeggs (room temp.)

1cupmilk

1tbspvanilla extract

For creme anglaise

9largeegg yolks

3/4cupsugar

pinchsalt

1cupmilk

1cupcream

2tspvanilla

For chantilly cream

1pintwhipping cream, very cold

1tbspvanilla extract or paste

1/2 to 1 cuppowdered sugar (to taste)

Assembly (Note: If you don't want to use one of the fruits below, you could substitute fruits like peeled and chopped nectarines or peaches. These are wonderful in a trifle!)

5bananas, sliced

1pintblueberries, rinsed and dried

2lbsstrawberries (rinsed, dried, hulled, and sliced)

1/2 cuptoasted sliced almonds

Servings

servings

Ingredients

For cake

1 1/2cupsself-rising flour

1 1/4cupsall -purpose flour

1/2tspkosher salt

1cupunsalted butter, softened

2cupssugar

4largeeggs (room temp.)

1cupmilk

1tbspvanilla extract

For creme anglaise

9largeegg yolks

3/4cupsugar

pinchsalt

1cupmilk

1cupcream

2tspvanilla

For chantilly cream

1pintwhipping cream, very cold

1tbspvanilla extract or paste

1/2 to 1 cuppowdered sugar (to taste)

Assembly (Note: If you don't want to use one of the fruits below, you could substitute fruits like peeled and chopped nectarines or peaches. These are wonderful in a trifle!)

5bananas, sliced

1pintblueberries, rinsed and dried

2lbsstrawberries (rinsed, dried, hulled, and sliced)

1/2 cuptoasted sliced almonds

Instructions

For cake

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Grease and flour 3 9” pans, or spray with butter-flavored pan spray. Line bottom of each pan with parchment paper.

Mix milk and vanilla in small bowl.

In the bowl of a stand mixer (or in a large bowl with electric beaters), cream the butter on medium speed until smooth. Add the sugar gradually and beat until fluffy, about 4 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition.

Add the dry ingredients in three parts, alternating with the milk and vanilla. Beat very little until the ingredients are just combined. Do not over-mix. Scrape down the batter from the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Spoon the batter evenly into the three pans. Bake 15 to 20 minutes, depending on your oven. Insert a cake tester into the center of each cake. When it comes out clean, the cakes are ready.

Cool 10 minutes in pans, then turn over and cool completely on racks.

For creme anglaise

Whisk egg yolks, sugar, and salt until slightly thickened.

Bring milk and cream to a simmer, stirring, over medium heat. Scald very lightly.

Whisk milk slowly into egg mixture. Return to saucepan. Cook, stirring constantly, over low heat. When sauce is slightly thickened and coats the back of a spoon (nappé), remove from heat. Sauce should be the consistency of heavy cream.

Pour through fine-meshed sieve (strainer) into bowl. Cool 10 minutes. Stir in vanilla. Place sheet of plastic wrap directly on surface of custard sauce and chill until cold.

Place cold cream in bowl and start beating on low speed. After cream gets frothy, gradually increase speed to medium-high, being careful not to fling cream all over your kitchen! (I cover the mixer with a towel so that any splashing liquid gets on the towel and not everywhere else.) Be very gradual while increasing mixer speed. When cream is about 3/4 from being the consistency of whipped cream, add the vanilla and 1/2 cup of powdered sugar. Start mixer slowly, then gradually work back up to medium-high speed. Beat until just about to the correct consistency. Add more powdered sugar at this point, if desired. Continue beating until you get the perfect consistency. The whole process usually takes 6-8 minutes.

Assembly

Cut cakes in half and slice lengthwise. Gently toss all fruit together in medium bowl. Spoon about half a cup of custard sauce into bottom of trifle dish. Place cake slices in single layer, then top with about a half cup of custard sauce. Top with about a cup of fruit. Continue until all ingredients are used up. When layering in the widest part of the dish, you might need more like 1 cup of sauce. Top with Chantilly cream and sprinkle with sliced toasted almonds. Chill trifle for a few hours before serving so all the flavors can marry.

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Hi, folks!

I'm Danielle. I worked in the food industry for 20+ years. I am a writer, chef, and part-time substitute teacher. I live in Southern California with my husband, daughter, and three dogs. I have a passion for teaching people the joys of cooking and baking. I love to knit, read, tinker around on the guitar and piano, and uke, and have fun around town with my little brood. I'm an annoyingly optimistic extrovert and I love making people laugh. Welcome!

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